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Phone line down? Troubleshooting no dial tone on your home phone

If you don't hear a dial tone on any of your landline phones, and your phone service is down, the first step is to check for area outages. 

Check for outages

Enter your address and select from the drop-down below to check for area outages. Please be patient as it can take several seconds to search.

The CenturyLink app is an easy way to check for outages. Every time you sign in, the app checks for outages in your area. If one is found, you can sign up for notifications to stay up to date.

My CenturyLink app home screen shows outages
If there are no outages at your address, the next step is to use Troubleshooter to help you identify problems with your service. Here are some tips for using Troubleshooter:
 
  • You need your account number or your billing phone number, plus your service zip code.

  • While testing is in progress, stay on the page. Usually this only takes a moment. If you close the window or turn off your computer, you will need to start the test again at another time.

Troubleshoot problems with your home phone or internet service.

Open Troubleshooter

You can also access Troubleshooter from My CenturyLink online or the app. On the website, go to the Services page and click the link to Troubleshoot service. This will start the troubleshooter with your account information pre-entered.

Service Troubleshooter link from My CenturyLink

If there is an area outage

If an outage is found, the Troubleshooter will display a message that says Known Outage Found. You will be given the most up-to-date info about the outage, including when we expect to have it fixed. From here, you can also request to receive notifications when the outage is resolved. There's no need to call and report — rest assured our technicians are working hard to get services back up and running.

If you have a home outage

This is an outage that is only affecting your address. In this case, Troubleshooter will check your lines for any issues and allow you to create a repair ticket without having to call us.

If no problems are found by Troubleshooter

If the Troubleshooter doesn't find an outage or a known problem with your line, it will present you with a menu of choices to get further help with common issues. Select Phone Problems and follow the prompts to identify what is wrong. From there, you will also have the option of opening a repair ticket or chatting with a support representative.

The same steps that Troubleshooter will present to you are also described below.

If you live in a single-family home and have access to the Network Interface Device (NID) on your property, you can check your service there, using a standard landline phone.

Note: If you live in an apartment, ask your building manager for assistance.

If you DO NOT hear a dial tone when testing for service at the network box, or if the tone is faint or intermittent, then the problem is with our equipment. Request a repair visit through Troubleshooter, and we will send out a technician. You will not be charged for the technician's visit.

If you DO hear a clear dial tone at the network box, that means the service is fine and there must be a problem inside with your wiring or equipment. See the next section for some ways to check your equipment.

If you hear a dial tone at the network box, then signal is getting to your home, and you need to check inside. You could be having a problem with your jacks or wiring, which can impact one or multiple phones.

To isolate the problem:

  1. Hang up all your phones. Be sure they're all hung up completely. If any were off the hook, wait a moment, and see if this corrects the problem.

  2. Unplug equipment and test jack.

    1. Unplug all your equipment. First, unplug your phones from both their jacks and electrical outlets. Next, if you have any other equipment that uses a jack, unplug that equipment as well. (For instance, satellite receivers, computer modems, caller ID boxes, fax machines, answering machines and alarm/security systems typically use phone jacks and can cause interference on the line.)

    2. Test your jacks. After you've unplugged all your equipment, wait one minute and then plug a corded phone into each outlet. Testing one jack at a time, you should hear a clear, strong dial tone when you test each outlet. If you don't, make a note of which outlets don't seem to be working and what you heard when you tested them with your corded phone.


If all your jacks have a clear, strong dial tone, the problem is probably with your phone. You might try replacing it.

If the dial tone on one or more of your jacks is faint, unclear or intermittent, you probably have an inside wiring problem. In this case, you can find an experienced professional to make repairs or you can have a CenturyLink technician do the repair. Read more about your repair options. 

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